Not for nothing has it been said that the trio sonata occupied in its golden age a position comparable to that of the string quartet in later music history. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the trio sonata proved to be the single most important genre of chamber music, encapsulating central developments in compositional history. Equally, it may be considered as an important instance of musical transfer, as it spread from Italy to encompass all of Europe. As a way of giving a new perspective on the genre, Inga Mai Groote (Université de Fribourg) and Matteo Giuggioli (Universität Zürich) organized a conference focusing on the idea of ‘cultural geography’. This was intended to help us get beyond well-known facts and to bring into focus those regional characteristics that are seldom discussed. An additional stimulus for organizing the conference was the completion of the source documentation Die Triosonate: Catalogue raisonné der gedruckten Quellen, a project funded by the Balzan Foundation and directed by Ludwig Finscher (Wolfenbüttel) and Laurenz Lütteken (Universität Zürich). Publication of the catalogue is being prepared.

In his keynote presentation, ‘Geography as a Paradigm for Studying the Trio Sonata: Some Reflections’, Matteo Giuggioli suggested that the examination of different and often neglected regions and places could help to deepen our knowledge of the development of the genre. Local perspectives could bring to light as yet unknown sources and composers and enable us to differentiate between local peculiarities and internationally common features. Methodological observations were also the focus of Laurenz Lütteken's paper, entitled ‘Die Zirkulation der Triosonate im Druck: Ergebnisse und Fragen aus der Quellenkatalogisierung’ (The Circulation of Trio Sonatas through Publication: Results and Questions from the Cataloguing of Sources). He outlined the history of the Catalogue raisonné project and explained the reasons for its conception. He stressed the importance of exploring neglected contexts of trio-sonata production and the new opportunities that the database provides in this respect. He also underlined the usefulness of the concept of cultural geography as it has been deployed in literary and art studies.

The contribution of Gregory Barnett (Rice University), ‘Solo Keyboard versus Trio Ensemble: Repertory, Milieux, and Modes of Dissemination, c. 1700’, dealt with questions of genre within the Italian context. By about 1700 Italian publishing houses had successfully popularized the trio sonata, whereas keyboard music was disseminated mainly in manuscripts. In comparing this keyboard repertory with that of the trio sonata, Barnett noted substantial differences with regard to style, popular success and modes of dissemination. As a reason for the great success of the trio sonata, he convincingly referred to its flexibility in performance matters and its adoption of features of the keyboard repertory. Rudolf Rasch (Universiteit Utrecht) also focused on the history of the genre. He considered the ‘Solos, Trios and Concertos in the Oeuvre of Francesco Geminiani’ as a special case of convertibility between different types of music and instrumentation. He argued that in Geminiani's oeuvre, the trio sonata shared basic structures with other genres. In particular, he discussed the relationship of the trio sonata to compositions for larger instrumental ensembles.

In contrast, Antonella D’Ovidio (Università di Firenze) used a source-based approach. Her presentation, ‘Mapping the Roman Trio Sonata before Corelli: History and Dissemination’, focused on mid-seventeenth-century networks for manuscript dissemination across Europe. She accentuated the importance of Italian traditions not only for France, but also especially for England, a hitherto highly neglected area in trio-sonata research. John Cunningham (Bangor University) explored the latter, addressing ‘“Faint copies” and “Excellent Originalls”: Composition and Consumption of Trio Sonatas in England, c. 1690–1710’. He particularly pointed to the work of unregarded English composers such as Matthew Novell, James Sherard and William Topham who, after Purcell's more old-fashioned approach to the genre, composed Italian-inspired works. He demonstrated how these post-Purcell compositions were connected with networks of patronage. Cristina Urchueguía (Universität Bern) also outlined a specific geographical area, dealing with ‘Die Triosonate in Spanien: Die Konsequenzen musikalischer Mobilität’ (The Trio Sonata in Spain: The Consequences of Musical Mobility). She observed that there was no broad tradition of the genre in Spain and that composers like José Plá who wrote trio sonatas travelled across Europe gathering inspiration for their works. On the other hand, imported prints of the trio sonatas of Italian masters such as Corelli and Boccherini can also be traced.

Adriano Giardina (Université de Fribourg) presented aspects of Europe's trio-sonata geography as mirrored by one protagonist, the Genevan musician Gaspard Fritz (‘Genève, Turin, Paris et Londres: la géographie des sonates en trio de Gaspard Fritz’). He highlighted the possible impacts of different cultural contexts on Fritz's trio sonatas published in Paris in 1756 and London in 1765. He discussed the stylistic characteristics of the sonatas in the 1756 print, for example the way in which they intertwine progressive and more baroque elements. My contribution (Michael Meyer, Universität Zürich), ‘Johann Philipp Kirnbergers Triosonaten und der Berliner Kontext’, examined the work of one further neglected composer. I surveyed Kirnberger's handling of the genre, noting distinctive features like the use of fugues and chromatic subjects, and discussing them against specific aesthetic and historical backgrounds, as for example the reception of Johann Sebastian Bach or the ideal of a contrapuntally founded ‘learned style’ in mid-eighteenth-century Berlin. A German context was also the subject of Inga Mai Groote's paper ‘Trio Sonatas for Brunswick-Lüneburg: A “Territorial” Case Study’. She showed how the repertory of trio sonatas affiliated with Brunswick-Lüneburg in printed and manuscript sources changed over a long time span and emphasized outstanding sources like the so-called ‘Partiturbuch Ludwig’ – a large collection of instrumental pieces written in the 1660s for Duke August II of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, which contains trio sonatas both by German and Italian composers. Publication of all the conference papers is being prepared.

The conference was complemented by a concert at the monastery of Fahr near Zurich (sponsored by the St Gallen–Zurich section of the Schweizerische Musikforschende Gesellschaft) featuring trio sonatas not only by Caldara and Corelli, but also by their lesser-known contemporaries Giuseppe Aldrovandini, Francesco Antonio Bonporti and Giuseppe Valentini. These live examples illustrated too that there are still many facets of the trio sonata waiting to be explored.